TEHRAN (FNA)- Prosecutors in Myanmar have formally charged two journalists from the Reuters news agency with violating the Official Secrets Act, signalling the case will go forward despite international condemnation.

The journalists, U Wa Lone, 31, and U Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were arrested in mid-December 2017 while reporting on Rakhine State, where Myanmar’s military has taken part in a campaign of killings, rape and arson that has sent over 655,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing into Bangladesh, World News reported.

Than Zaw Aung, the lawyer for the journalists, said the prosecutor formally indicted the pair at Wednesday’s hearing, as they face up to 14 years in prison if convicted, adding that he appealed for the two to be immediately released on bail, but the judge stressed that he would review that request and rule at the next hearing on 23 January.

“We are still far from the verdict,” he underlined.

The ministry of information has cited the police as saying they were “arrested for possessing important and secret government documents related to Rakhine state and security forces”.

The ministry added that they “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media”.

The arrests came just weeks after a judge sentenced two other foreign journalists, their interpreter and their driver to two months in prison on charges of filming with a drone without official permission.

US, European Union and UN officials were among those calling for the journalists to be released.

More than 655,000 of Myanmar's Muslim minority have fled across the border to Bangladesh since late August when the Myanmar army launched a sweeping crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Northern Rakhine state.

The UN has already described the Rohingya as the most persecuted community in the world, calling the situation in Rakhine similar to “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

The Myanmarese government, however, denies committing atrocities against the Rohingya people and has even rejected UN criticism for its “politicization and partiality.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein stressed that attacks on the Rohingya had been “well thought out and planned” and he had asked Myanmar’s de facto leader to do more to stop the military atrocities.

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